A House is not a Home
by ellaygee
Summary: An argument causes a rift between friends, but what is really going on? pre-game.
1. Chapter 1

**Almost forgot my authors note. Don't own, don't sue. For those who enjoyed my STATUS feature, I do have two more in the works which should be uploaded in the coming weeks. This story is part one of three, and will hopefully be updated to completion within the next week. I super appreciate all the reviews and favorites from my first story; sorry I am still figuring this thing out and just realized I can't reply to the emails directly, I don't want you guys to think I'm ignoring you or don't appreciate the time you take out to let me know what you think. Please, feel free to offer constructive criticism, it's the best way to grow as a writer.**

Ignis smiled to himself as he pulled the pan from the oven. The apartment was filled with the scent of the flaky pastry and the adviser's gentle humming.

He loved times like this, when he was alone in the apartment. He had already cleaned it from the general messy state it's teen occupant tended to keep it, and a load of wash was swooshing away in the laundry nook. Any minute, now, the prince and his young friend should be walking in the door to ruin all of his hard work, but he couldn't bring himself to feel perturbed. Ever since the prince had started hanging out with the enthusiastic blond, he'd been less moody.

Even Ignis had to admit he enjoyed having the amateur photographer around. He's even grown used to the nickname "Iggy" that was bestowed upon him the second time he'd ever even met the boy.

The front door slammed, jolting Ignis from his thoughts. He removed his oven mitts and began preparing two plates of the confection for the boys.

However, only Noctis' brooding figure stalked its way to the kitchen, a dark cloud of annoyance following behind him.

"Hello, Highness. Where are Gladio and Prompto—"

"Fuck Prompto." The prince grumbled as he stomped past Ignis, rattling the glass condiment bottles in the refrigerator as he ripped the door open.

"Language Majesty."

Noctis shot him a look that clearly said 'fuck you, too', but he refrained from uttering the actual words.

Ignis sighed to himself. He counted backwards from ten, a habit that he had been using more of lately, due to his close quarters with the Prince of Messiness and Brooding.

Noctis poured himself a glass of milk and sat across from his adviser, mumbling a 'thanks' when Ignis slid one of the plates towards him.

"Are you going to tell me when your friend has done to incur your ire, or are you simply going to glare at your milk until it has curdled?"

Noctis glared at him again from beneath the curtain of blue-black hair. Ignis kept his gaze steady, gentle but unrelenting.

"He wouldn't let me come in his house."

Of all the things that he could have been expecting, this was not one of them. Sensing the prince was going to continue, he pursed his lips and waited.

"I mean, we've been friends for like, three years now. And he has not once invited me over to his house. I haven't even met his parents! I mean, I know it sounds stupid, but I'm the prince for Etro's sake! Any crown citizen would be thrilled to have me in their home." He took an angry bite of the pastry, gnashing it between his teeth.

Ignis raised his eyebrows in question.

Noctis chewed more thoughtfully, then shook his head and swallowed, quickly following it with a swig of milk. "Too heavy."

Ignis made a mental note of the criticism and moved on. "Perhaps young Prompto is somewhat less than proud of his dwelling, and does not wish to have his friend—his prince—see his more…humble surroundings?"

"He knows I don't care about that stuff."

"Yes, but does he care about that 'stuff'?"

Noctis thought hard about it for a few moments as he tore off small bits of pastry and slid them in his mouth, chewing slowly.

"I don't think so," he said finally, "at least, I never thought he would. You see how he is; he has no regard for my position in private, and is only a little better about it in public."

Ignis bristled a little at that, remembering the first time he had been out with the two teens in public. Gladio had quite the laugh over his red face and flustered demeanor every time Prompto would hoot loudly and grab hold of the prince in sudden undignified embraces to take 'selfies'. "This is true."

"I mean, I get that we were just swinging by to grab something, and then be right on our way again, but dammit Iggy, I had to pee."

Ignis poured his own glass of milk and at across from the prince, starting in on his own pastry. It was too heavy. "Perhaps you had better start from the beginning."

Abandoning his treat, Noctis leaned back precariously far on his stool, letting out an exasperated sigh. "He's been acting weird for like, a week, right?"

Ignis nodded; the prince had been grumbling about his friend's odd behavior for a few days, now, citing avoidance and a lowered interest in his usual activities. That was actually what tonight was about. Ignis had suggested a "boy's night in" for the four of them, so they could discern what was changing the usually enthusiastic boy's demeanor.

"Well, today, he was being really quiet at lunch, and I couldn't take it anymore, so I confronted him. He just slunk away, didn't even say anything when I asked him what his problem was. Then, when Gladio picked us up, he asked to swing by his house, and I had to pee and he wouldn't let me come in. So, I told him to go and sulk or whatever by himself, and Gladio had to take me to a corner store to relieve myself. _A_ _corner_ _store_."

Ignis had to keep his composure at the look on Noctis' face for having been forced to use a gas station restroom. "Well, I certainly do apologize for your misfortunes today, but let's not let it sully our evening. I may not be quite as good as Prompto, but I will be happy to play video games with you until Gladio arrives with the pizzas."

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Gladio frowned up at Noctis' back as he climbed the stairs to his apartment door. He'd thought that his words to Prompto had been especially harsh, and told him as much as he drove away, leaving the crestfallen freckled boy on the curb. He had also noticed Prompto's odd behavior the last few days since Ignis had requested he pick them up after school, as the prince's car was in for maintenance. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet, taking to staring out at the passing scenery from the back seat instead of actively taking part in conversation or singing along to the radio. Though it had been a blessing to his ears at first, after the first few days he had begun to miss Prompto's usual exuberant attitude.

Before pulling off to go pick up the pizzas, he decided to send Prompto a text.

::Hey, I'll come back around and get you if you still want to come::

The response was almost immediate.

::Nah, I decided to take Nocts advice and sulk alone. Thx tho::

Gladio tossed his phone down into the seat next to him. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was people who spent too much time feeling sorry for themselves. He liked the kid, sure, but he also got annoyed now and again at all the insecurities he tried to hide; especially considering he really didn't have anything to be insecure about.

He grumbled to himself a bit as he pulled away from the curb, determined to not let his young friends' sour moods destroy his good one.

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Prompto watched the taillights of the town car disappear around the bend before turning to trudge up to the door. He paused as a dark chuckle sounded from behind the fence.

"Aww, did the poor puppy's prince get mad at him?"

Prompto sighed, trying to decide if he was going to ignore the taunt or engage with his new neighbor.

Van Adium had moved in next door about two weeks ago. The brunette boy was a schoolmate, another scholarship student from the poorer areas of Insomnia, and he and Prompto had never really gotten along. He was a larger boy, and could perhaps give Gladio a run for his money. He used that advantage to become one of the more prominent bullies in the school, but until now he had more or less left the blond youth alone. But, ever since he moved in, it seemed it was his personal mission to undermine everything Prompto did.

He and his friends often made snide remarks, and have on more than one occasion physically intimidated the smaller boy, shoving him roughly into the lockers as they passed him in the hall. There were only a few classes that Prompto did not have with Noctis, but it seemed like Van or one of his friends was in each of those classes, and used that time to torment the freckled youth.

Prompto usually ignored him, but he was starting to lose his patience. "Man, you know, Van, I have literally never done anything to you. Why don't you give me a break?"

Van smiled viciously at him, his dark violet eyes flashing in the late afternoon sun. "Because you're weak, Prompto, and it's fun."

Prompto stared at him for a few moments, but eventually looked back towards the ground and continued up the stairs to his door, Van's soft laughter making his ears burn in shame.

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Ignis cleaned up as quietly as possible. After a few hours of gaming and joviality, they had finally succeeded in cheering up the prince a bit, and he now lay sleeping on the couch. Gladio had left over an hour before, citing early training sessions from the Glaives.

He retrieved a blanket and pillow from Noctis' room, and did his best to rearrange the prince in a more comfortable looking position. Resetting the alarm on his phone to a more reasonable hour than the prince had set it. He plugged it up on the side table and turned off the lights, leaving Noctis snoring gently on the couch.

He retired to his room, closing the door and turning on the radio to a classical music station. He sat on his bed for a few moments, staring down at his phone. He was torn; he did not want to interfere in the prince's affairs, but he also felt a friendship with the young blond that drove him to want to send him a text and check in on him. These sudden changes did not sit well with the studious man.

Ignis liked things a certain way. Though outwardly he was good at tolerating change and unexpected happenings—humans were fickle creatures after all—he liked routine. This tension between the two younger members of their small group made him uneasy.

In the end, duty won out over familiarity and he put the phone away.

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Noctis woke on the couch, startled out of slumber by the insistent ringing and vibrating of his phone. He stared blearily at the display for a moment, yesterday's anger reigniting at the bold PROMPTO that showed on his screen.

Not attempting to hide is irritation, he grumbled a half hearted greeting into the phone. The other end was silent for a few moments before his friend's nervous voice crackled over the line.

"Uh, hey, Noct, I'm sorry about yesterday. I..I dunno why I was so adamant about you—"

"It's whatever, Prompto. You don't want me in your house. You made things very clear. Let me do the same." He cut off any chance for reply by pressing the END button on his phone, extra hard. He glared at the screen for a few more minutes, and, satisfied that it wasn't going to ring again, he tossed it away from himself and rolled over to bury his face further into the couch cushions.

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Prompto stared down at his phone in dismay. He'd barely gotten any sleep last night, worry over his friend's anger wearing on him. But what was he supposed to do? Complain to the Crown Prince that his neighbor had been picking on him? Yeah, cause that wasn't pathetic.

Sighing dramatically, he shoved himself up off his bed and got dressed in his sweat pants and grey hoodie, ready to jog off some of his stress.

He left his house at a slow pace, heading up to the dog park by his house. He was hoping the combination of cute animals and exercise would burn off his sour mood. One hour and nine laps of the park later, it had not.

Around lap three, he noticed Van and two of his school friends had taken up residence on one of the more secluded benches along the path. He pointedly ignored them each time he passed, focusing on the heavy music in his ears and the feel of his feet as they pounded the pavement. But, though he could not hear them, he knew that they were yelling at him as he passed, taunting him. He considered leaving at first, but he dug in, deciding he wasn't going to let them ruin his run.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he rounded the bend on lap ten, and the other three boys were nowhere to be seen. He guessed they decided it wasn't any fun if they weren't getting a reaction—

Suddenly, Prompto's thoughts twisted along with his body, as his foot caught and he went flying face first into the concrete. This section of the path was on a medium decline, and he slid a few feet when he landed, his forearms, and left knee took the brunt of the force of the fall. He wheezed, sparkles dancing in his vision as he tried to take stock of himself.

He rolled onto his back, and reached up to touch his stinging cheek, frowning at the blood on his fingers. He slowly tested his jaw, and ran his tongue along the backs of his teeth. Luckily, nothing seemed loose. His jaw hurt, but wasn'tbroken. Prompto slowly sat up, inspecting the underside of his forearms, grimacing as he tried to dig out one of the pieces of gravel that had embedded itself into his skin. His ear buds had been ripped from his ears in the fall, and dangled from the mp3 player clipped to his sweats.

He stilled as three long shadows surrounded him, each boy positioning themselves around him, cutting off any means of escape.

"Amazing what a well placed piece of tripwire can do." Van dangled the offending object in front of Prompto's face, smiling wickedly down at him.

"It's a useful tool when hunting especially stupid game. Do you like to hunt, Prompto?" Van's flunkies snickered behind the downed youth, crowding closer to him.

Before he could answer, an older man ambled his way up the path with a large sleepy looking dog, and called out to them. "Hey, is everything ok over there?" He frowned, seeing the three larger boys surrounding a third on the ground, and made low hissing sound through his teeth, setting his dog on alert. The dog growled low in response, staring up at Van menacingly.

Van glared at him a moment before yelling back, "Yeah, everything's fine, old man, just our clumsy friend here took a tumble. We were just helping him up." At his nod, each of the other boys reached down and grasped Prompto by his upper arms, pulling him roughly to his feet. He yanked himself out of their grasp, and took the opportunity to move away from them.

"That true, there, son?" The older man asked Prompto, disbelief obvious in his voice.

"Yeah…uhh, yeah," he nodded to the old man.

No one moved for a moment, and then Prompto shifted closer to newcomer. Van and his two friends burst out laughing at his obvious discomfort, and turned to leave.

"See you soon, Prompto." Van threw casually over his shoulder as he walked by, winking at him.

"You sure you're ok?"

Prompto stared at the boys' retreating backs for a moment, and then smiled nervously at the man. "Yeah, thanks. I'm ok." He gave the dog an absent minded pat on the head and ambled away, deciding to take the long way home.

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Ignis drove through the streets slowly. He'd just had the car washed and detailed, and was enjoying the cleanness of it before he subjected the poor machine to Noctis and Gladio's disgusting habits. Were he not the Prince, and had it not been technically his car, Ignis would forbid all drinks and food, and possibly Noctis himself, from the vehicle.

Unconsciously, or perhaps a little consciously, he found himself driving through Prompto's neighborhood. He wasn't going to call him, but if he happened to be out, there was no harm in speaking to him.

As luck—and the ability to tap into government surveillance equipment—would have it, he found the boy walking slowly down a side street, a slight limp to his step. He had his hood pulled up over his head, and the sleeves rolled up to the elbows.

Ignis slowed the car down next to him, giving a short honk to gain the boy's attention. Prompto jumped a little, a pained expression on his face when he whirled towards the car. He quickly pulled down his sleeves and removed his ear buds as Ignis rolled down the window, smiling out at the boy. "May I offer you a ride?"

"Uhhh, no thanks, Iggy, I'm good." He went to walk away, but Ignis followed, insistent. Prompto sighed and stopped again. He scowled into the open window. "You know, Iggy, I just really don't want to deal with you or anything else at the moment. Please, just leave me alone."

Ignis stared at him a moment, then wordlessly rolled the window up and pulled away. However, he simply drove up a half a block so that he could more easily park the car. He met the boy on the sidewalk, falling into step next to him. They continued in silence a few minutes, heading steadily towards Prompto's house a few streets away.

"So are you going to tell me what has been going on between you and Noct, or are you going to childishly ignore me?"

"Gonna have to go with 'childishly ignore you' on that one, there, Iggy."

Ignis found himself counting down from ten. When he reached one, he took one large step forward and whirled around in front of the young blond, blocking his path. Prompto stepped back a little, ducking his head down and deeper into his hoodie.

"No, you will not ignore me. You and Noct have got to figure out whatever it is that is going on between you two. He's been sulking on the couch all day."

"Hey, I tried to call and apologize. He hung up on me. Ball's in his court now." Prompto went to step around Ignis but the adviser grasped his forearm, eliciting an unexpected hiss of pain from the teen. When Prompto yanked his arm back, he lost balance and flailed a bit, his hoodie falling off in the process.

Ignis moved faster than Prompto could process, and he suddenly had the blonde's head in his firmly gentle grip, turning his face up towards the light. He quickly assessed the split skin under his eye and the bruising on his chin and cheek—it would darken quite a bit in the next few hours—and frowned down at him. "What happened here?"

Prompto bristled jerking away again, and pulled his hoodie back up. "None of your business, Iggy. I already asked you to leave me alone. "Please, just…please. Let me go home."

Suddenly a few puzzle pieces clicked in Ignis' head, and he found himself broaching an uncomfortable, yet unavoidable subject. "Prompto, did your…did your parents do this?" He gestured to his face and arm vaguely, knowing that there was more under his running clothes that he was hiding.

A look of pure confusion shot across the teens pale features, his brows furrowing as he glowered at the taller man. "What? This? No, my…how could you …they aren't even…" he was flustered, angry, and making little sense.

Ignis held up his hands in a calming gesture. "I only asked out of concern. Noctis has mentioned that you've been acting strangely all week; withdrawn and disinterested. These are signs of depression. Couple that with the fact that you wouldn't let Noct in your home yesterday; have in fact have never asked him to your home or introduced your parents…"

He knew he took the wrong path when Prompto let out a frustrated yell, shaking his gripped fists up at his bespectacled friend. "You know what, Iggy? I just can't do this with you right now. I fell, ok? I fell in the park and I busted my face and I'm hurt and I just want to go home and take a shower and go to sleep and forget this day ever even happened. Can I go, now? Please?"

Ignis nodded once, resolute, and stood aside to let the youth pass. Prompto pulled out his ear buds, shoving them in and stalked by Ignis, not looking back as he limped the rest of the way home.

Ignis watched him for a minute, frowning. There was definitely more that met the eye going on, here. He didn't like it one bit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the false alarm, still figuring this out :) blanket; don't own, please do not sue statement. Oh, I may have lied. It looks like this may be more like 4-5 chapters. Hope that's ok! On with the story!**

Noctis was starting to feel a little bad about his attitude towards Prompto. Truth be told, he was actually worried about him. He hadn't been this reserved since before he and Noctis had become friends.

When they were kids, they were both loners. Long before they were friends, he actually found himself jealous of Prompto on occasion. Being a prince and growing up as publically as he did, Noctis always had people surrounding him; tutors, guards, other kids. People who did things for him, wanted things from him, or just liked to be seen near him….he could rarely be sure of the intentions of others. He preferred his own company, but settled for that of Ignis and Gladiolus.

Prompto was more able to blend into the background. Though his freckles, glasses, and chubby frame did get him picked on now and again, by and large the other kids left him alone. The feeling was mutual, it seemed, as every time he had a spare moment, it was spent looking at or using his camera. He rarely interacted with other students, and the teachers seemed to forget he was there and didn't often call on him for answers when reviewing information aloud.

It was actually surprising to Noctis when Prompto did try to approach him that afternoon so many years ago. For days after that encounter he wondered why someone so blessed with anonymity would want to associate themselves with someone who was constantly surrounded.

And now, as friends in their last year of school, they were still loners. But, they were loners together.

Noct groaned to himself, grinding the palms of his hands into his eyes. He picked up his phone to text his friend, but when the door opened and Ignis walked in, he had a better idea.

"Hey, Iggy, can you drive me over to Prompto's house?" He was already standing up, sliding his phone in his pocket.

Ignis paused a second, a frown tugging down the corners of his mouth. "Have you spoken with him?"

"No, but I think I may actually owe him an apology. It's better to do that in person."

Ignis nodded in agreement. "I will be happy to drive you there, Noct, but are you sure that's wise? Perhaps if you phone him first—"

Noctis sighed in exasperation. "It's not like I'm gonna demand he let me in his house or anything. I'll ask him to come outside and talk to about it. I was just, you know, thinking about it, and I overreacted. And now I'd like to apologize."

"Of course, Highness. Come along."

They drove through the streets in relative silence. Noctis was feeling nervous for reasons he couldn't quite place his finger on, but the closer they got to Prompto's, the drier his mouth became.

As they approached the row of houses, Noctis shifted, staring out the window towards Prompto's driveway. There were several figures he didn't recognize standing near the fence line.

"Hey, Ignis, just drive by, I want to see what's going on."

His adviser caught his eye in the rearview mirror, but said nothing as he complied.

As they passed, Noctis could now tell that the figures were actually Prompto and three other boys from school. They were standing in a small group, Prompto and a larger boy were facing away from the street, and the other boy had his arm slung around Prompto's shoulders. The two boys facing the street were laughing and nudging one another. As Ignis drove by, Noctis could feel his rage building as all four boys started heading for Prompto's door. He sunk down in his seat, his expression darkening.

Ignis cleared his throat, attempting to catch Noctis' gaze in the rearview mirror again, but the boy just stared sullenly out of the window. "Shall we turn back?" He asked finally, already knowing the answer.

"No." Noctis said simply, and didn't speak again the rest of the way home.

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Prompto kicked out at a rock, immediately regretting it as his knee reminded him it had not been treated too kindly in the last few hours. He hadn't meant to blow up at Ignis, but the mere mention of his parents threw his defenses up. Though he loved his friends dearly, he preferred to keep his home life private. He didn't want to explain about his parents and why they were always gone.

Eyes straying to his wristband, he had to force his thoughts away from the real reason he suspected they stayed away.

He was taken care of, that was all that really mattered.

His throbbing knee reminded him that he had stupidly declined a ride the rest of the way home, and he still had about a mile left of walking to do. Sighing, he shuffled towards a corner store, and bought himself a hot chocolate and a donut.

He sat on the bench outside, nursing his drink and scrolling through his phone. No new messages. He really hadn't expected any, but he'd hoped. He played a few rounds of Kings Knight, waiting for the pain in his knee to dull to an ache before continuing on to his house.

He again found himself regretting having sent Ignis away. Van and his two friends were loitering by his gate, laughing and roughhousing with one another. He was able to recognize them now that he thought about it—Ticceh, a boy from his language arts class that liked to kick his chair and throw spitballs, and Carron, a boy from his gym class that he didn't remember having ever interacted with before.

He groaned inwardly, knowing he had nowhere else to go. He was out of pocket money, having only brought a few gil with him for his after-run treat, and he doubted at this point that there was anyone he could call. He felt a little ashamed even considering it. He hated that he suddenly felt like he needed an escort to go anywhere.

Resigned, he approached his driveway, frowning up at the three other boys.

Van snickered and nudged Ticceh in the ribs. "Hey, look, the puppy finally made it home! What a good boy he is!"

As the three howled in laughter, Prompto's cheeks began to burn and his heart thumped in his chest. "I'm getting pretty tired of your shit, Van. Why don't you just leave me alone?"

This only made them laugh harder and Prompto turned to continue up his driveway. Van slung his arm around his shoulder, pulling him close. He smiled in an almost friendly way, but the hard edge to his eyes disturbed the image, and made gooseflesh rise up on Prompto's neck and arms.

"Oh, come now, pup. We're just messing with you." He held Prompto back, Ticceh and Carron grinning and elbowing each other in front of them.

"You know," Ticceh smiled at Prompto, then turned and addressed Carron, "I've always heard that no matter how far you take a dog, he'll always find his way home."

Carron nodded, though he looked a little uncomfortable. Ticceh didn't seem to notice and continued; "I wonder if we take the prince's little puppy here outside the city limits and drop him, how long it would take for him to make it back."

Van chuckled in Prompto's ear, digging his fingers into his shoulder. "I dunno, I think maybe a voretooth would get him long before he made it back to the city limits."

They laughed again and Prompto's temper rose. He knew that any moment now, he was going to do something very stupid.

"You know what, though?" Van shook him lightly again, and started leading him towards the front door of his house, Ticceh and Carron falling into line behind them. "Puppies really are the best. They're so warm and sweet and protective! A good puppy would warn his family if say, an intruder snuck into the house one night. Or if there was a fire." He winked down at Prompto who had frozen again at the base of his porch. "Tell me little pup, who would you bark the alarm for? Is there even anyone in your house to warn?"

Unbidden tears sprung to Prompto's eyes, and he shoved Van as hard as he could. He caught the larger boy off guard, forcing him back into Ticceh. But, instead of the swift retaliation that the blond expected, Van simply laughed at him again.

"Awww, I think I might have struck a lonely little nerve." He jerked his head in the direction of the street and he and his two flunkies started off. Van walked backwards a few steps, eyes locked with Prompto's. He gave a lazy waive and a smirk, then turned away, tossing an "I'll be seeing you." over his shoulder as he left.

Prompto watched them leave, his heart still thrumming in his ears. It wasn't until they had disappeared around the corner that he entered his empty house.

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Ignis was just laying the gravy over his Croque Madame as Noctis swept out of his room, phone in a white knuckle grip. "What? What could you possibly want? ….No. Why in the world would I want to meet you for lunch? No, you listen. I don't give a shit about your _excuses_ or your _reasons_. I don't want to hear it. You can just hang out with one of your other friends." Noctis ended the call by throwing the phone into the wall and stomping down the hall into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Sighing, Ignis stooped to pick up the phone, seeing the call was still connected. He glanced towards the bathroom door, and satisfied it was not about to open again, he put the phone to his ear.

"Prompto?"

"Oh, uh, hey, Iggy. Uhm, I'm sorry about yesterday. I shouldn't have been rude to you, I know you were just trying to help."

"That's quite alright. For what it's worth, I am sorry that you and Noctis are having this row. Things have been…less pleasant of late."

Prompto's gentle laugh sounded across the line. "Thanks. Uhm, could you tell Noct that I'm, uh, I'm sorry?"

Ignis cut his eyes towards the still closed bathroom door. "Yes, I will be happy to relay the message. I advise perhaps letting his majesty cool off for a few more days before trying again. I know that you can't avoid him in class, but if—"

"Yeah, I get it, Iggy. I'm being too pushy. As usual. I'll just….see you around, I guess."

Ignis ended the call, placing the phone next to the breakfast plate he had prepared for Noctis. He ate his own food in silence and had already cleaned up the mess by the time Noctis came back out of the bathroom, taking his place at the table.

Ignis watched him a moment while he ate, weighing how best to broach the subject of the argument. However, Noctis beat him to it.

"It just hurts, you know?" He had abandoned eating his food for simply staring at it. "I mean, I know it's stupid and that Prompto is allowed to have other friends besides us, but, I don't know…it's hard to explain."

Ignis sat down and stared at him until Noctis raised met his eyes. "What you are feeling is perfectly natural, Noct. Prompto is very special to you; you share a kinship with him that you do not have with anyone else. Though you obviously like and care for Gladiolus and myself, the friendship you have with Prompto was not built around duty or title."

Noctis leaned back in his chair and gazed out of the window for a long moment. "Yeah, I guess. I just don't know why he would feel the need to lie to me. I mean, he's been acting weird for a while, and now he's hanging out with those other guys. I just don't get it."

"Hmm, yes, well it seems to me that you keep denying Prompto the chance to explain." Ignis tapped the phone for emphasis.

"Heh, good try Iggy. I'm not calling him. I'll just…talk to him at school tomorrow."

Ignis smiled at his charge. "Fair enough, Noct. Now, what is on the agenda for today?"

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Gladio drove through the streets slowly, maneuvering between slower moving vehicles. Next to him, his little sister Iris flipped the radio stations. He was proud of himself for not outwardly cringing when she landed on one of those boy band stations and started humming along.

"So, what are the rules for today?" He glanced over to her for a second, smirking at her put-upon eye roll.

"I'm to stay with my friends, not leave the arcade, not talk to strangers. I'm allowed to stay as long as there is at least one other person staying with me, and I'm to call you immediately to pick me up once everyone else is going home."

He nodded his approval. "And what else?"

Iris let out an exaggerated groan. "Stay out of trouble. Watch the exits. Watch my back. Watch my friend's backs."

He nodded again as he signaled and pulled over to the side of the road in front of the arcade. Standing under the neon sign were four other girls who all started waiving to Iris excitedly as they came to a stop.

"I think you're forgetting something. What's the most important rule?"

She smiled sweetly up at him. "Have fun?"

His laughter bubbled up from deep within his chest and he reached out to ruffle her hair affectionately. She slapped his hands away, quickly smoothing down her hair again.

"Not cool, Gladdy."

"What's the most important rule?"

She shot him a mean look, then cracked a smile and rolled her eyes again. She was getting too good at that, in his opinion. "Don't talk to boys. Don't look at boys. Don't think about boys. Don't talk about looking at boys. Don't think about looking at boys who talk…"

"That's my girl. Now, go have fun." He tossed a small bag of gil her way, and she caught it, hefting it in her hand. She raised a delicate eyebrow.

"I may have snuck in a few extra gil. Have a lot of fun, squirt."

She threw his arms around him in a baby bear hug, and broke away with a smile. She scrambled out of the door and joined her group of friends, who all turned to waive to him. He pulled away from the curb, shaking his head at the chorus of "Bye Gladdy!" and high pitched giggles from the girls.

Maybe it was a good thing he wasn't chaperoning them today.

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Prompto was going stir crazy. He didn't want to admit to himself that he was avoiding his neighbor. It seemed like no matter what he did, where he went, Van and his random groups of two to five flunkies were right behind him.

His hand itched to shoot Noctis a text to apologize again and see if he wanted to hang out, but rejected that thought. His last two attempts had not gone so well. Noctis had been mad at him before, but usually his relentless charm brought the prince around quickly. Apparently that was not going to work this time.

Deciding he didn't want to be at home anymore, he threw on a pair of dark wash jeans and his favorite hoodie; a lime green one with large pockets and a black skull motif on the back. Noctis had given it to him for his 17th birthday that past October.

He slid his camera in his pocket and made his way downstairs, leaning heavily on the banister. Thanks to his fall, he wouldn't be able to go out for a run, but he'd be damned if he was going to stay home by himself for a moment longer. He swiped a handful of gil that he kept in the cookie jar on his way through the kitchen, and his mp3 player from the charger by the door.

He caught a bus going nowhere in particular, and got off when he realized he was near Penny's Arcade. Maybe shooting some digital people in the face would calm his nerves.

Though firearms were illegal for private citizens to own, there sure were a lot of games and movies designed around gunslingers. Prompto found he was very good at these games, likely for reasons he preferred to not think about, and his initials were on nearly all the machine's leaderboards.

He picked one off to the side—Lone Soldier 3: Malfor's Redemption—and lost himself in the virtual world in front of him.

He hadn't been there long when he started to get that itch at the base of his skull that alerted him that he was being watched. He continued on, letting his peripheral awareness stretch out, not feeling an immediate threat. As he mowed down digital assassin after digital assassin, he realized it was Van.

He continued to ignore him, staring directly at the screen ahead as it loaded the next level. Dissatisfied with getting no reaction, Van moved up next to Prompto, using his bulk to bump the smaller boy roughly against the console.

"Not bad, Argentum. Not bad at all." He bumped him again. "I'm surprised an uncoordinated shit like you can hit a target at all, much less get that high of a score."

Prompto glared up at Van, his temper rising quickly. "Leave me alone, man. I just wanna play my game in peace." He widened his stance, holding his ground.

Van snickered down at him, and grinned at the two boys keeping audience behind them. He jabbed his thumb towards Prompto with a disdainful snort. "You guys see this? Looks the prince's little puppy thinks he's a big dog now. Is that it, pup? Do you think you can run with the big dogs?" His voice was low, menacing, and suddenly Prompto's blood went cold, though he did not waiver.

"Where is His Emo Highness, anyway? He seems to not be keeping good track of his pet." Van spit out the last word, stepping forward. He reached his long arms around the smaller boy, trapping him between them and the bar connected to the console of the game. He leaned down closer so they were face to face, the next words just for the freckled youth. "All sorts of bad things can happen to puppies when their master's aren't looking. They can get lost, or hit by a car, or maybe even happen upon a group of mean little boys who might cut his tail off for fun." These last words were practically purred as he stared deep into Prompto's cerulean eyes, an evil grin playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Fuck off Van." Prompto all but whispered, shaken a little at this sudden forced vulnerability. Van continued to stare at him for a few moments, then let out a sharp bark of laughter.

"Hey, guys? You can't just stand there. You gotta play or you gotta go." All heads turned to the new comer; a boy a few years younger than them was staring indignantly from behind thick glasses. He swiped at an errant brown curl that sprang from his baseball cap and glared at them. "I got next."

Van grinned at the boy and elbowed Prompto hard in the ribs. "Why don't you come outside, Argentum, and we can continue this conversation."

Prompto swallowed hard. "No, thanks. I still have three lives." The last comment was directed more towards the younger boy, but Van smirked at him anyway.

"We'll see about that," he ground out, shoving Prompto against the console one more time. He and his cronies laughed uproariously amongst themselves and made their way towards the driving games.

Prompto took a shuddering breath and leaned against the console, running a shaking hand over his face. The curly headed boy tapped his foot pointedly, arching one eyebrow up further than Prompto thought possible.

"Three more lives." Prompto said again as he un-holstered the bright orange gun and took aim, shooting his digital assailant right between the eyes.

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Iris smiled to herself as she made her way through the crowded arcade. She had spent the last two hours trying to get on the leaderboards of Volcano Cycle Seven, finally relinquishing the machine when she was able to input !R!S in the number 7 slot.

Her group of friends had dwindled down over the day, and her she had just escorted the last one to the door to meet her parents. She knew she was supposed to call Gladiolus immediately to come get her, but she had the worst craving for sweet potato fries. There was no harm in putting in the order for them and then calling her brother.

She weaved in between some particularly rowdy kids, heading for the snack bar. She was passing by the shooter games, when she spotted a familiar face, it's usually soft laughing features twisted in a stern mask of concentration as he picked off one target after another. She whistled low as he got off an extremely difficult combination.

He jumped, missing the target, whipping around angrily. "I still have—" Prompto ground out fiercely, forcing Iris back a step at the flare of anger in his eyes. He faltered immediately, his face taking on a pained expression at having frightened her. "Shit, Iris, I'm sorry. I thought…I thought you were someone else."

She knit her eyebrows together as she studied his face. When her eyes lingered on the dark bruising along his jaw line and the small bandage under his eye, he turned away, shooting off a few more rounds before the level ended.

"So, uh, what brings you here? Is Gladio around here, somewhere?" He holstered the plastic rifle and shot her a smile, quickly looking away again, his eyes darting through the crowd.

"No, I was here with some friends, and am supposed to call Gladdy to come get me when I'm ready to go. Buuuuut;" she smiled charmingly up at him, batting her eyes a little, "since I've found another friend here, I can stay longer."

"Oh, ok, well, I'll let you get to your friend." He waived to her a little, turning away. She chortled behind him, snagging his sleeve.

"You're silly, Prompto. Come on, this place has the best sweet potato fries. My treat. Or rather," she winked up at him, "Gladdy's treat." She wrapped her arm around his, pulling him in the direction of the snack bar. Knowing better than to refuse her, he smiled and let himself be dragged along, trying not to grimace as her fingers dug lightly into the scratches under his lime green hoodie.

Behind them, Van Adium and his two cronies smiled wolfishly at each other.

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Gladio glared at his phone, as if his dark stare would force his little sister to call him. He didn't like the idea of her being out without adult supervision. But as his father had pointed out, she would be without her older brother soon enough, so she had to learn independence.

That didn't mean he had to like it.

Noctis elbowed him to bring his attention back to the game they were playing. "Man, if you're just gonna let us get our asses handed to us, you may as well just go up to the arcade and follow Iris around until she's ready to go home."

Gladio grunted at his younger friend, mashing buttons in an effort to regain points. After several more rounds of mediocre play, he finally gave in, tossing the controller onto the table in frustration.

Snatching up his phone, he stepped out on the balcony to make his call, Noctis and Ignis snickering behind him. He glared at them as he slid the glass door shut behind him, hitting the speed dial button for his little sister.

She answered on the fourth ring, her voice all brightness and sunshine.

He was having none of it.

"Iris it is past sundown, now. I am coming go get you. Be out front of the arcade in twenty minutes."

His sister let out an irritating sigh. "Come on, Gladdy, we just got our fries. How about another hour? Pleeeease?"

He was tempted to give in to her, but he had a feeling that something was up, so he stuck to his guns. "No. Absolutely not. Out front. Twenty minutes."

"Oh, come on, Gladdy. It's not like I'm here alone. I've got Prompto to keep me safe."

The snort Gladio let out at that statement was half amused, half derisive. "Yeah, right, like I'm gonna leave your safety in the hands of that skinny runt. He's barely bigger than you. What's he gonna do? Blind an attacker with the flash of his camera?"

There was a sudden static on the phone, and then Iris' voice came again, this time sounding a bit clearer. Gladio groaned, not having realized he was on speaker.

"That's not nice, Gladdy," Iris admonished. "Prompto is quite capable—"

"I don't have time for this, Iris. Both of you be outside in twenty minutes. We will take him home, and then you and I are having a long discussion about this. Do I make myself clear?" His tone brokered no argument, and she gave him none. With a curt goodbye, she hung up him.

He swept back into the apartment, slamming the sliding door hard enough that it bounced back open, and he had to shut it again with an exasperated grumble.

"I'm going to pick up Iris and Prompto. I probably won't be back for a while." He said, gathering his keys and wallet.

"What do you mean, Iris and Prompto? What are they doing together?" Noctis asked, setting the controller down on the table.

"Hell if I know. But they both have some explaining to do." Gladiolus shoved his arms into the sleeves of his jacket, grumbling angrily under his breath.

"Well, I would find it highly unlikely that Prompto was attempting to court young Iris. However, perhaps it could be the other way around." Ignis offered from behind the counter, thoughtful.

Gladio stopped; his expression like thunder as he pointed one long thick finger at Ignis. "Don't even suggest it."

Noctis snickered from behind him as he started sliding on his own shoes.

"You're not coming with me." Gladio said as he reached for the door.

"Oh, yes I am, big guy. I'm still pretty pissed at Prompto. Whether he's dating Iris or not, I have the feeling that you are going to yell at him, and I don't plan on missing it." He clapped his hand roughly against Gladio's muscled arm. "Coming, Iggy?" He shot over his shoulder as he followed his shield out of the door.

"I suppose I may as well." Ignis swept out behind them, locking the door on his way out.

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They shoveled as many fries in their mouths as they could before heading through the crowd and out the front door. There weren't a lot of people in the streets, most being in the arcade itself or at the pizza joint across the street. All the other surrounding businesses were closed for the night. They strolled over to stand under a street light a short ways from the building.

Iris had tried to apologize to Prompto for her brother's words, but he had brushed it off with a smile. "It's ok," he'd said, "I am a skinny runt."

"Everyone is in comparison to big brother." Iris had stated and they both shared a laugh.

Iris liked Prompto. Not like she liked Noctis, who she found to be quite handsome and mysterious. But Prompto was sweet, and he easily numbered among her favorite people. He was one of the few friends of Gladio that treated her like more than a tag along. All the boys were nice to her, sure, but at her ripe old age of just-turned-thirteen, she knew that they mostly just tolerated her. But not Prompto. He wasn't afraid to act silly with her, and he balanced that with never talking to her like she was kid.

Now she watched him with interest as he stalked the immediate area, picking up several rocks from the cracked pavement. "What are you doing?" she asked, as he crouched down awkwardly inside the circle of light and began lining up his rocks. She frowned at his groan of pain. He was obviously favoring his left leg; stretching it further out, somehow using his heel to maintain his balance.

"Uhh, well the lighting here is interesting. I am trying to see if I can get some cool shadows going on these stones. See, how they've got these facets and fissures?" He held one up to her and she studied it in the light, rubbing her thumb across the rough surface.

She nodded, handing it back to him. He lined it up with the others, adjusting its spot three times before being satisfied.

Iris giggled as he laid himself out on the ground and snapped a few photos. He struggled back to his feet and smiled at her, pulling up the display mode on the camera, and handed it to her.

She gasped lightly as she flipped through the photos, studying the different angles and how the shadows stretched and played in each rock's mottled face. He stooped to gather his subjects, stashing them away in his pockets for future practice.

She handed him back the camera and then asked, mock-shy, "Do you ever use human models for your photos?"

He laughed softly, flipping through some of the previous photos for her, showing ones of the group. "Just the guys, really. They're the only ones with 'patience for my shenanigans', as Iggy likes to put it."

Iris laughed, bringing both hands to her mouth. "That's a pretty good Ignis impression."

"Thanks. Here, come on," her reached out and took her hand, pulling her to a set of stairs leading up to a small art gallery a few doors down from the arcade. He had her stand with her hands on the railing, positioning her head so that the moon above showed softly across her features. He clambered back down the steps and around to in front of her, snapping off a few photos.

"Ok, Iris, now don't smile. Tilt your head to the left, that's it! Ok, now….stay perfectly still." He snapped another photo, the flash reflecting off the window behind her, illuminating her in an ethereal glow.

Iris humored him, following each of his directions to the letter. But, as he crouched down to line up another shot, she suddenly broke her pose, shouting down a warning to him as three boys she didn't recognize suddenly rushed out of the shadows of a nearby alley.

Her warning came too late, however. The largest of the boys delivered a solid stomp in between Prompto's shoulder blades, shoving him forward, his head making a sickening sound as it smacked against the concrete.

They surrounded him, all three laying into the prone figure with feet and fists as Prompto curled himself into a tight ball, doing his best to protect his head.

Iris snatched out here phone, fumbling it in her haste and confusion at the sudden turn of events. It fell uselessly from her hands, bouncing down the steps to the pavement below, the back and battery popping loose from the rest of the device.

The sudden clatter and the less than quiet curse that accompanied it drew the attention of the small crowd. There was a long moment where no one moved, then at a gesture from the one who had kicked him down initially, the other two boys lifted up a barely conscious Prompto by his upper arms and held him steady. The boy with the brown hair and wild violet eyes strode towards her, a wolfish smile spread across his features.

"Oh, what do we have, here? Did Argentum actually scare himself up a little girlfriend? Why don't you come on down here?"

Iris drew herself up to her full 5'1 height, and with all the pride of the Amicitia line, she placed her hands firmly on her hips and glared down at him. "You better let him go now and get out of here, because my brother is going to be here any minute and he is going to _kick_ _your_ _ass_."

All three boys burst out laughing, but she did not falter.

The boy cast a cursory glance towards the street towards the arcade. Where they were standing wasn't exactly in full view of the surrounding buildings, but it wasn't completely out of sight, either. Satisfied no one was watching them, he turned back to her. "And who is your brother?"

Iris pressed her lips into a thin line. She glanced from him to Prompto, who seemed to be coming back around to himself a little better. He was casting around, looking at nothing, or maybe everything.

"Gladiolus Amicitia." She said her brother's name like it was the evocation of a god; as if she could call him down to smite these boys who dared cross them.

But her brother was not a god, and the name only evoked more laughter as the boy with the twisted smile advanced towards her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Don't own, don't sue. so, here is the next one. I'm pretty sure I'll get the last chapter up by mon or tues of next week. Then the next thing will be another status feature which will be updated as an additional chapter back there. Thanks for all the reads and favorites and reviews! It really makes my day :) Also, I just watched one of the live streams of the voice actors playing the game and they end it by beatboxing/singing Stand By Me and it was amazing. Just saying. Also I might maybe have figured out page breaks by following directions, (update, I did not...so yeah...xvs it is)** **and if so I will edit the first few chapters. Now to figure out italics...**

Noctis was becoming extremely uncomfortable. They had been sitting outside of the arcade for about five minutes. Gladio was glaring at his phone's display, but it remained stubbornly dark. As he tapped at it to call his sister for the fourth time, Ignis, who had called Prompto's phone as many times with much the same result, reached over to stop him.

"It keeps going to voice mail. Either her phone is off, or she is trying to call you and you are each cancelling out the other. Leave it."

Noctis slowly drug his eyes from Ignis to Gladio, knowing that it was a 50/50 shot that his shield would either listen, or punch Ignis in the face. He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when it turned out to be the former. Now that he knew it was safe, he decided to join the conversation. "Let's look around inside. Maybe they thought they could get in one more game and lost track of time?"

Gladio didn't reply, but he did put the car officially in park, and get out.

Music blared outside of the arcade, thumping and drowning out the din of traffic. Noctis and Ignis fell in behind Gladio as he made his way through the throngs of teenagers. They checked the food court area first, since that was their last known location. Finding no more information than "they ran outta here about thirty minutes ago", they moved on. Gladio steered them over to the driving games, knowing his little sister had a bit of a daredevil streak and particularly liked the ones with motorcycles. This area proved to be just as annoyingly devoid of the people they sought as the food court.

Noctis reached out and put a calming hand on Gladio's arm. He could tell the man was about two minutes from losing his cool. "Let's check out the shooters, that's what Prompto usually plays."

Gladio nodded, scanning the crowd. Being at least a head taller than just about everyone in the room made it easy to spot the bank of machines that resembled miniature firing ranges. He gestured with an angry bob of his head and they started that way. As they approached the area, all three froze at a sudden commotion.

"Man, fuck Pimp-to! Gods fucking dammit!" This was followed by several loud bangs and unintelligible frustrated yells.

"Pimp-to?" Ignis mouthed at Noctis, who just smiled. They followed the distressed sounds to find a boy about Iris' age stomping as he was getting reprimanded by a member of staff.

"If you mishandle the equipment again, you're outta here, got it?" A red headed woman who looked very _done_ with everything was staring down at him balefully. He bobbed his curly head, not looking at her.

"Maybe go try another game. You can't seem to handle this one."

He angrily shoved his ball cap down on his unruly hair, glaring up at her. "I'm outta gil anyway."

They stared each other down for another moment, before the worker let out an exasperated sigh and turned on her heel to find the next disaster she needed to handle.

"What was all that about?" Noctis approached the kid, smiling lazily at him in his disarming manner.

"P…Prince…Highness…Uh, hi, sir." The kid bowed to him awkwardly, looking fearful of his sudden audience with royalty.

"What's going on over here?" Noctis smiled again, but it seemed to have no effect on the nervous boy.

The kid licked his lips, eyes darting from Noctis to Ignis to Gladio, his expression growing more flustered at each new face. Deciding the prince was the least terrifying of the group, he kept his eyes steady on him when he replied. "I, uh, I've been trying for _weeks_ to get on this leaderboard, but it's like this damn…uh, darn, uh other kid—he's a machine, literally in every spot. He _sucks_."

Ignis peered past him to the scrolling leaderboard that did indeed sport the initials PMPTO in every slot. He nudged Gladio, pointing at the screen. "I'm not sure if those scores exactly qualify as 'sucking' as the young man puts it."

Gladio glanced over, acknowledging the high scores with a grunt as he scanned the crowd again, looking for either his sister's sweet face or the boy he currently wanted to throttle.

Noctis smiled down at the kid, and pointed to the screen. "Do you know him?"

"No, but I did meet him today. He doesn't seem like a very nice guy. Kept yelling at me about how many lives he had."

Noctis frowned. He'd never known Prompto to yell at a kid. "What did he look like?"

The kid screwed up his face in thought. "Uhhh, about this tall," he indicated a height a few inches taller than himself. "Skinny, blond hair that looks like the tail end of a chocobo."

That comment did elicit a humored grunt from Gladio. "Sounds like our boy. Did you see him? Did he leave with anyone? Girl about your age, maybe?" The aggressive tone in the big man's voice caused the boy to back up a few inches, glancing between him and Noctis.

"Uh, he, uh…when I got here, he was with a group of other boys; big guy like your friend here had him up against the machine." He frowned a little, making a grossed out face. "I thought at first they were gonna make out or something, but when I got closer, I think maybe they were having some sort of argument. Anyway, the other boys left after I got here, and that's when your friend was being mean to me about how many lives he had. But then a girl;" here he nodded towards Gladio, "about my age did come up to him and finally drag him away to the food court. I've been on this thing ever since, fat lot of good it did." He finished, kicking the rail of the machine, and then glanced around looking for the employee who had told him off a little while before.

Noctis smiled to him again, giving him his thanks as he turned away. "Well, at least we know what they were doing before you called. Let's look outside. Those two aren't the best when it comes to doing what they're supposed to be doing."

Gladio glared down at him, but said nothing as they headed back towards the entrance.

Other than a few kids standing off to the side of the arcade and the pizza place across the way, the streets were deserted. No one they questioned had seen either Prompto or Iris.

Noctis rubbed the back of his head. There was only one thing left to do. "PROMPTO! IRIS!" his sudden shouting startled his companions and the small group of teens. When the other two men joined in, the teens decided to go back in the arcade, leaving them alone in the street once more.

They fanned out, staying in sight of one another, searching for any sign of their friends. As he approached the closed art gallery, something caught Noctis' eye. "Hey, Gladio, isn't this Iris'?" He asked, snapping the phone back together and powering it on. He glanced back to Gladio who was near the base of the streetlamp, picking up something of his own. Wordlessly, the big man traded Prompto's discarded camera for Iris' phone.

Gladio's hand gripped tight around the device, whose display showed a picture of Iris riding on his shoulders, matching silly grins on both their faces

"IRIS!" he shouted; his voice so torn with worry and rage that it ripped at the prince's heart.

Ignis, a little ways down the block was standing still at the mouth of a dark alley.

"No." the one syllable was spoken with a quiet strength that echoed through the street louder than all their shouting had. Noctis and Gladio wasted no time jogging up, skidding to a stop next to their bespectacled friend. They followed his gaze to the figure lying still, almost lost in shadows near an overflowing dumpster.

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One minute he was crouching down, trying to get a good angle of Iris up on the stairs despite the protestations of his still swollen knee, and the next his camera was skittering across the concrete and he was down, lying confused amidst a sudden onslaught of kicks and punches.

Just as suddenly, he was on his feet again, being held up by two extremely blurry people. He stared around, his head ringing and his vision swimming as he bobbed his head in different directions; finally settling on the area the most sound was coming from.

He couldn't make out what was being said, but he knew those voices. It was Van and….and Iris. The knowledge that Iris was in a vulnerable position worked to sober him greatly, and he was able to get his vision and shaking limbs under better control by the time she had attempted to summon her brother out of thin air.

He had to get her out of there; back to the arcade, back to safety.

He was pretty familiar with the area, and knew there were about five avenues of escape. Three, really, as some of the options ended up feeding out into the same streets.

He snapped his attention back to Iris as she started talking again.

"Let him go. Now." She stated, her voice not betraying any of the fear Prompto knew she had to be feeling. He rebalanced himself in his captor's arms, lowering his center of gravity a little, still feigning disorientation.

Van took a few more steps towards her, and Iris edged to the side of the stairs, gripping the railing tightly in one hand.

"I don't think so. In fact, why don't you come on down here? You can help me teach the little pup back here a lesson." He strode forward boldly now.

"Iris! Run!" Prompto shouted, using his lower center of gravity to spring up and back, breaking the grip the other boys had on him. As they turned to grab him again, he hopped back further, ignoring the screaming pain that ripped up from his knee. He pulled out three of the rocks he had slid in his pocket earlier. With perfect accuracy, he whipped one at each boy. Being further away, the rock that hit Van did little more than grab his attention when it struck the back of his head. Carron, however, dropped to all fours, howling and holding a hand over his right eye. Ticceh took one of the larger stones in the temple. He hit the ground groaning, but was quickly attempting to struggle back up.

Carron was still holding his eye with the palm of his hand, but was on his feet and lumbering back towards the freckled boy. Prompto scooped up the camera that had skittered out of his hand when the attack began, and charged the flash, setting it off in his attacker's face when he got within reaching distance. As he stumbled backwards, Prompto swung his good leg into Carron's crotch, dropping him again.

Adrenaline rushed through Prompto's veins so hot and fast that his whole body began to tremble, and all his personal hurts faded into the background.

He discarded the camera and used the downed boy as a spring board to launch himself into Ticceh. They tumbled to the concrete, rolling over one another. Prompto came out on top, and delivered a pretty decent right hook, stunning the boy beneath him.

Meanwhile, Iris did just as Prompto suggested and leapt over the railing as his sudden distraction caused Van to turn his attention away. She scrambled in the opposite direction, but Van was much faster than his bulk would suggest. He easily caught up with her, sweeping her off her feet and holding her back against him. He squeezed her hard enough to make her cry out, relishing in the immediate effect it had on the object of his ire.

He froze, arm cocked back, ready to deal a knockout blow. His eyes slowly lifted up to meet Van's. A silent exchange between the two had Prompto dropping his fist.

Ticceh shifted beneath him, shoving the blond off and wobbling to his feet. He swung a fast brutal kick into Prompto's side and spit the wad of blood and saliva that had gathered in his mouth into the boy's face.

Prompto wiped it away with the back of a trembling hand, but that was all the acknowledgement he gave to Ticceh directly. His eyes bore into Van's. "Let her go."

"I don't think you're in any position to be making demands." Van squeezed her again, this time clapping his hand over Iris's mouth to muffle her cry. He gestured to the other boys who had more or less recovered, and they grabbed Prompto again, manhandling him into the alley behind Van who carried a fiercely struggling Iris.

The entire interaction took less than five minutes; the only witness an impartial security camera recording from inside the art gallery window.

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Carron had no idea what he was getting himself into when he agreed to go with his friends to the arcade. Now, lying on the ground, contemplating what a life of blindness would mean, he thought back to the events that had led up to this moment.

Sure, he didn't like the Argentum kid either; the over-enthusiastic little shit was always flitting about, taking photos and generally being a pain in the ass. He thought he was so cool, hanging around the prince and his royal entourage; the only kid in school apparently good enough for the mysterious Noctis.

Ok, maybe he had felt a little bad yesterday when Van set up that tripwire and the kid busted his face. He also wasn't a fan of waiting for him in the driveway. He actually felt a little ashamed about that stunt. But, what was he supposed to do? Go against his friends?

And today, when Van had picked on him in the arcade, it had been funny. Up to a point. Carron didn't like the way that Van trapped the much smaller boy; didn't like the way he got up close and personal.

Then, when he'd revealed his plan to him and their other friend Ticceh, he'd been more or less ok with it. They were to wait for him to come outside and then take him in the alley and rough him up a little, maybe break his camera. Take the smug little punk down a few pegs.

But this—this he was not comfortable with at all.

As he got himself back to his feet, and his vision finally started to clear, he considered just taking off. But Van…well to be perfectly honest, he was afraid of Van. They were friends, but there was an edge to their relationship. He'd always felt as if he was walking on eggshells around the wild-eyed boy, as if any wrong move might flip the tables and make him an enemy.

So, instead, he did what he was told and helped get Argentum and the girl further out of sight. Once encased in the shadows and weird yellow glow from security light over one of the doors in the alley, Van had shoved the squirming girl into Carron's arms, and took up his position holding on to Argentum.

The girl went still in his grip as they watched Van toss the freckled youth into a corner created by a dumpster meeting the rough brick wall. He rifled through the blonde's pockets, pulling out the other stones and anything else that may be used as a weapon, slinging them on top of the garbage heap.

Van took a step back and smiled down at Argentum. "I'm actually impressed, pup. You're no match for me, but I think you may have actually had these two." Van gestured to Carron and Ticceh, sending each a frown.

Carron's heart sank a little at the thinly veiled insult; cheeks burning at the embarrassment of letting Argentum get the drop on him twice. The girl tensed in his arms and he tightened his grip, whispering to her to keep still.

He held his breath when Argentum struggled to his feet, using the wall as support. Van watched him, an amused smile on his face. Ticceh headed back down to the mouth of the alley to check to make sure there were still no others around.

When the blonde spoke, his voice was raw and angry. "Look, Van, why don't you let her go? Whatever this is, it's between me and you. I mean, really, it's just between you and you, because you seem to be off your nut. Just, please—"

Van silenced him by lunging forward, pinning the smaller boy against the wall, forearm braced against his throat.

Carron strained his ears, trying to hear what Van said as he lowered his head directly next to the the boy's ear, but all he could make out were Argentum's strangled gasps.

They had gone too far. Carron finally broke his silence as the photographer's face reddened with the lack of oxygen; his pale hands scrabbling against the violating appendage. "Hey, man, come on, that's enough!"

Ticceh came jogging back down the alley, taking in the scene, seemingly unconcerned. "Yo, so, hey I just saw the prince and two other guys head into the arcade. You think they're looking for these two?"

Van still hadn't let up his hold on Prompto, and he did not remove his eyes from the slowly dimming cerulean orbs of his victim. "Oh, I'm betting on it."

"Come on, man, you're gonna kill him," Carron tried again, readjusting his grip on the girl, who had tensed up in his grasp.

"Maybe that's the point." But, Van did release his hold, and Prompto dropped bonelessly to the ground, wheezing roughly.

He whirled to face Carron and his charge, eyeing the girl up and down. "Look at him." He waived his hand errantly towards the battered boy sitting amongst the refuse. "He's nothing. He doesn't even try to protect himself."

As if to demonstrate for him, Ticceh kicked out, catching the boy in the shoulder. Prompto grunted, but was still recovering from the near strangulation. All the fight had gone out of him.

"He's not nothing." Iris stated hotly. "He's kind and loyal. He's not trying to protect himself because he's not stupid. What is he supposed to do? You're easily three times his size and have two buddies to back you up. You are not offering him a fair fight. He was already hurting, and you attacked him from behind. That makes you a coward in my book."

Van slapped her across the face and her entire body rocked in Carron's grasp. The blow seemed to only encourage her. "You know what else I see?" She jutted her chin in Argentum's direction, a small trail of blood dripping down it from her split lip. "I see someone who isn't afraid."

Carron followed her gaze and for a moment, he saw what she saw. Though obviously in pain, and concerned for his companion, there wasn't an ounce of fear in his eyes. He had gotten to his feet and lurched forward when Van struck the girl, but he was now being held tightly by Ticceh. He watched them all warily, eyes darting occasionally to different spots in the alley, a calculating expression darkening his features.

He thought Van must have seen it, too, because he was suddenly regarding the freckled youth with more interest. He strolled back over, glaring down at Prompto with disdain. "Is that true?" He leaned in closely, smiling again. "I think we can fix that. You may not fear for yourself, but I bet I can make you afraid for her."

Straightening, he gestured to Ticceh. "Hold him. Make sure he watches."

Ticceh nodded, renewing his grip on the boy. Van whirled and headed back towards Carron and the girl.

And that's when all hell broke loose.

Almost in unison, both Argentum and the girl stomped on their respective captor's instep, bringing forth twin howls of pain. Carron was suddenly bending over from a sharp elbow to his solar plexus and then the girl delivered a double-fisted hammer blow to the base of his skull, assisting him on his expedited journey to the pavement. While there, he had a nice view of Argentum slamming Ticceh into the side of the dumpster and then smashing his knee into his chest. Between each pair of combatants, Van whirled back and forth, unsure of which one of his friends to aid.

Carron never knew which he chows. The last thought before darkness took him was: that's a mighty hard punch from such a small girl.

XVXVXVXVXV

Gladio was sure his heart had stopped beating. He was almost afraid to step forward; afraid of what the yellow light shining from above the lone visible door would reveal when he got closer to the figure on the ground.

He was running, but every step seemed mired in swamp mud. The closer he got, the more the choke hold on his heart released, however. The person on the ground was too large to be either his sister or Prompto.

Ignis kneeled next to the strange boy, quickly checking his vitals, reporting that he was out cold.

Next to them, Noctis shifted, staring down into the face of the boy on the ground. "Hey, Iggy, isn't that one of the kids that was hanging out with Prompto yesterday?" He crouched down getting a closer look. "I think he may be in one of my classes. Coral something. Or…maybe Carrig?"

"Let us find out, shall we?" Ignis, ever prepared, pulled a pack of smelling salts out of his pocket, and ripped it open, waiving it beneath the boy's nose.

Gladio itched to keep moving, so while Ignis and Noctis brought the kid around, he headed further into the alley. There was a narrow cross section made of dirt that ran behind this set of buildings towards the street about fifty yards further down. He knelt in the dirt, studying the recently disturbed ground. There were three sets of footprints; two large, one small. It was obvious the smaller person was injured from the way the gait was firm on the right, but dragged on the left. He slowly stalked his way down the narrow path, careful not to disturb the evidence.

About three quarters of the way down, the two larger sets caught up with the smaller. There was a scuffle, and then only two sets continued down to the street beyond, where their trail ended a few steps to the left as the dirt was shaken from their shoes and the prints ended. He turned back to find Noctis heading his way down the dirt path behind him.

Gladio raised a hand to him to get him to stop, and carefully picked his way back down to meet the prince.

The anger radiating off the dark haired teen was palpable. But when he spoke, he managed to sound almost calm. "Ignis is with that kid. He didn't have much information beyond what we've already figured out. Just said him and two other guys had it out for Prom, and decided they were gonna jump him. But I guess Iris being there ended up changing the plan. Apparently, she handed him his ass and that was the last he saw of anyone. We did get names, though. Iggy is making some calls, now."

Gladio nodded, a flare of pride for his sister rising up in his chest, only to be quelled once again by worry. He brought Noctis down the path to show him his findings.

"I'm betting this is Prompto's set." He waived a pointed finger towards the smaller set, which were all but obliterated at some points by the two others. "Here it looks like another fight happened, and then only two sets leave."

"So what does that mean? They've taken him somewhere?" Noctis could not mask the worry in his voice.

"Yeah, looks like they carried him out. See how this set is suddenly deeper and the gait is shorter?" Noctis nodded as he followed Gladio's reasoning.

"But if only the three of them came into this area…"

"Then Iris has to be around here somewhere. I'm guessing they split up. Let's head back the other way." Gladio let Noctis back down the path and into the cross section of the alley once more. Glancing down to check on Ignis, he noted that the bespectacled adviser was speaking quietly with the kid they found earlier.

They had searched the other two allies and were heading back to Ignis when Gladio suddenly paused, reaching out an arm to stop Noctis as well. They were silent a few moments, listening. There was a small shuffle, quickly followed by running footsteps. A rusted screech echoed through the alley. Gladio's head shot up and he moved to block Noctis from whatever was coming.

"Gladdy!" Up above, Iris was quickly sliding and jumping down an old fire escape, dropping from the bottom ledge, confident her brother would catch her.

He did, and pulled her immediately into his arms, hugging her fiercely. "I was so worried about you." He breathed into her hair, and she gripped him back, burying her face into his chest. After a few moments, he set her gently down and studied her. His anger spiked immediately, taking in the dark blemish forming on the side of her face, her ripped clothing, and the finger shaped bruises on her upper arms. He traced his fingers along her cheek, but she gently smacked his hand away.

"Oh, Gladdy, they're going to kill him, I know it." Tears gathered in her chocolate eyes, and she threw herself forward into his arms again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! Chapter four! Five should be up in the next 1-3 days, hopefully. Then on to new stuff. Thanks for the likes/reviews, you guys are great! On to the story:**

Prompto was dreaming. Or maybe he was remembering, he couldn't really tell. There was a ringing in his ears, and he couldn't breathe. A weight crushed into his throat, and a sinister voice floated into his mind.

"Poor little pup; you're gonna die, you know. I'm gonna kill you and leave your mangy carcass here in the garbage for the prince to find."

Van Adium. The source of his torment over the last few weeks. The boy who somehow saw right through him to his insecurities and fears. The only person he'd ever felt hate for.

And he wasn't lying. When Prompto stared into those wild violet eyes, he saw nothing but truth there. Van intended to kill him. But then…something happened, and he was running; he was lifting Iris up onto a rusted ladder. He scrambled up himself, then doubled back and was swinging into his attackers. Lightning bolt pain radiated from his left knee, and he screamed in pain, screamed at Iris, desperately wanting her to save herself. Running. Running. Running. He ducked into a dirt crossway, and it twisted and stretched before him. He stumbled down the path. His vision swam as the last of his adrenaline dissipated, leaving his body aching and limbs feeling leaden.

It was useless, however; he was caught. He fought savagely, but was unable to break their grip as his pursuers smashed him into the wall, the ground, the wall again and darkness took him not swiftly, but cruelly, ripping at his consciousness piece by ragged piece.

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Van smiled to himself. He knew the house would be empty.

He'd been watching the Argentum kid for a while. Over the last few months, he'd made and subsequently scrapped several ideas on how best to use the boy as a pawn to hurt Prince Noctis. It was pure luck that when he and his mother had been forced into more humble accommodations that his new home was directly next door to his intended prey.

In these last two weeks, he'd kept a close eye on the comings and goings of the Argentum household. He quickly noticed that only one person was doing either. In all the time he'd watched, the boy's parents had never stepped foot in the house. The look on the boy's face yesterday when he'd mentioned it had been proof enough. He was all alone.

He supposed he may have worked too quickly. Looking back now, he wished he'd taken longer, savored it. His original intention had not been to kill the boy; just terrorize him a bit. But over the few weeks, Argentum had not done as he'd expected.

He'd wanted the boy to tell Prince Noctis what was happening to him. He'd wanted to see the prince upset, maybe even get him to try and fight on his friend's behalf. He knew that was the only way he'd possibly get away with physically attacking the prince; if he was the one to strike first. Then, Van would just be defending himself.

But instead, the little freckled freak had just kept it to himself and caused a problem in their friendship, which was entertaining in a different way. He supposed he could have exploited that further, but if his observations were correct, those two probably would have made up in another day or two.

No, this was the best option.

When he'd been clearing out the boy's pockets earlier, he'd lifted his keys, a delightful plan coming together in his head. It was poetic really.

He would take the boy back to his own home and leave him to die.

He really had to give it to the kid, though. He was scrappy. He'd put up quite the fight before they'd finally gotten him fully out and into the trunk of Ticceh's car.

And now they were tucked safely away in Prompto Argentum's garage.

As he got out of the vehicle and headed to the back to open the trunk, he wondered how far Ticceh was willing to go. He'd seen Carron falter in the alley. He knew that if he'd hadn't been incapacitated by the girl that Van himself would likely have had to do it so that he could complete his mission.

On the drive, the youth had confided his own reasons for hating Argentum to Van. Apparently, not one, but two girls he'd attempted to ask out had a thing for the young photographer. And even though he wasn't giving them the time of day—here Ticceh made a crude allusion to the rumors that occasionally cropped up about the raven haired prince and his constant companion—they would rather swoon over him than go out with Ticceh.

Van put his hand on the trunk lid, stopping his friend from opening it. "You do understand I plan on killing him tonight. If you don't want to be here for that, I suggest you leave now."

Ticceh smiled at that, and popped the trunk open. Prompto was still out, lying pale and unmoving amidst the various tools and other junk littering the compartment. "Van Van, my man, I know you. If I walk out of here now, I'm not going to be better off that this little shit. I'm in too deep. I may as well enjoy the ride down." Then he had the audacity to wink at the taller boy.

Van smiled back, and clapped him on the shoulder. "This is why I like you, Ticceh. You get me."

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV

It was all Ignis could do to keep his outward calm as he considered how he would physically restrain Gladio from killing the Carron boy while simultaneously stopping Noctis from running off half-cocked after Prompto's abductors. Anger flowed off both of them in waves, making the studious adviser nervous.

He had already relayed the information Iris provided to his contacts at the citadel, who were now scouring security footage from the major roads and highways looking for an older model brown car with four doors and a cracked back windshield.

According to Iris, after she and Prompto had released themselves, they were able to make good their escape further down the alley.

He had helped her up onto the fire escape ladder, promising he'd be right behind her. When she made it to the top, she found she'd been betrayed. She had looked down just in time to see Prompto swinging back down from the bottom rung of the ladder into Van, knocking him back into the other boy. When the blonde landed, he cried out as his knee buckled and threw him to the ground. She started to clamber back down, but he yelled at her to go to the arcade and find the others, then scrambled to his feet and took off, both other boys hot on his tail.

Iris had attempted to follow them, traversing the rooftops until she could go no further. When she spotted them in the dirt crossway carrying a very unconscious Prompto towards the street, she took a running leap to the next building and was able to follow them a little further. She watched as they dropped the freckled boy into the trunk of a car and took off.

That's when she had heard more people in the alley and found her brother and Noctis.

The prince seethed knowing that they were quite literally only about five minutes late to being able to assist their friends.

Lights suddenly filled the alleyway as a car pulled up to its entrance. Ignis shielded his eyes as two dark figures emerged and strode towards them. Recognizing her father as one of the men, Iris detached herself from her brother's side, and ran forward to him. He knelt down to embrace her and exchange quiet words as his companion continued on to them.

Cor Leonis greeted each boy in turn, and they all nodded respectfully to him and moved to allow him to crouch in front of their prisoner.

"Where did they take the Argentum boy?" Cor's voice was hard, but not unkind.

"I dunno, sir. I really don't. If I did, I already would have told them." Carron trembled before the marshal of the Crownsguard, staring at the ground.

Satisfied, Cor rose and addressed Ignis.

"I have my best men on this. Why don't you take Prince Noctis to the citadel, and—"

Ignis had to reach forward and hold onto Noctis' arm to keep him from getting into the marshal's face. "Like hell I'm going home when Prompto's out there alone!"

Cor directed his attention to Noctis. "I understand you are concerned for your friend, but we have assigned the Crownsguard to this in deference to you. The boys who took him are just teenagers; we are confident we will find them quickly. Your car has been brought along; go to the citadel and await this matter to be resolved."

Noctis was about to protest again when Gladio stepped up next to him. "Noct, do as he says. I'll have Father take Iris home, and me and Iggy will stay with you until we have more information."

They stared at each other a long moment before Noctis deflated in resignation. As the three headed back down the alley, Carron called out to them.

"Please tell him I'm sorry, Ok? I didn't know that Van would take it so far. We were just having some fun…"

Noctis whirled and was on him in a flash—literally—as he warped into him, throwing the larger boy up against the brick wall. "Fun?!" He spat, gathering up Carron's shirt in his fists, slamming him into the wall again. None of the others made a move to stop the enraged prince.

Noctis glared at Carron, who quaked in his grasp. "I'm sorry." He muttered again, lamely.

Noctis grunted in disgust and dropped his hold. "That's for sure." He glared at him for a moment longer before joining Ignis and Gladiolus, leaving the object of his anger in the hands of Cor.

As they approached the car, Gladiolus sidled up next to Ignis. "Has anyone got a hold of his parents?"

Ignis's lips drew into a tight frown. "Yes, however apparently neither has responded to messages from the citadel. I was promised that I would receive notification as soon as one has made contact."

Gladiolus grunted his acknowledgement.

Ignis let out a relieved breath as he slid into the driver's seat and cranked the car. He waited for his companions to become settled before backing up and pulling towards the street.

"We're not going to the citadel." Noctis was not asking; he was making a statement of fact.

Ignis tried to catch his eyes in the rearview mirror, but the raven haired boy stared stubbornly out of the window. "We're not?" he asked.

"No. We're not." This was from Gladio whose amber eyes were daring Ignis to disagree.

"Well, alright then." There was no point in going against them, and if he was honest with himself, Ignis didn't want to. "Where are we heading, then?"

"I don't know, Iggy. But we have to find him. We just have to." Noctis finally met his eyes, and Ignis felt any argument he would have made wash away with the tears that slipped down his charge's cheeks.

Ignis pulled out into traffic, driving aimlessly for a few minutes. "Well, we know the names of the other boy; Van Adium and Ticceh Marsh. What do you know of them?"

Noctis shrugged gently and went back to staring out of the window. "Not much, really. I mean, I know they're both jerks. But, I don't really talk to anyone but Prompto, and most kids who talk to me are…you know…nice, I guess. I've never really interacted with any of these guys."

They drove in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts and worries. It wasn't long before Cor was calling Ignis, wanting to know why they hadn't made it to the citadel. Ignis schmoozed through the conversation, citing worry on the prince's behalf and convincing him that they were simply driving around, waiting for his mood to stabilize before heading back.

Though he sounded rather unconvinced, the marshal ended the call with Ignis' promise that they were not meddling in the investigation.

"What about tracing his phone?" Noctis asked from the backseat.

"I already have my contacts working on that. As do the Crownsguard, I'm sure. But we won't know anything until it is turned back on."

The silence hung heavy in the car as they continued until it was finally broken by a frustrated Gladiolus. "Why does that name sound familiar?" he asked from his place in the passenger seat, frowning in thought.

"Which name?" Ignis made a left down a side street to get out of the heavier traffic so he could concentrate more on the conversation.

"Adium."

Ignis braked to let a squirrel cross the road. "Wasn't there an Adium on the Crownsguard years ago?"

"Yeah, that must be it. Maybe I can get the contact information from my father." Gladio pulled out his phone, but he stopped when a familiar sound filled the car.

Noctis's phone was going off, and they all recognized the special jaunty punk tune he had assigned as Prompto's ringtone.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV

He remembered spending time in his backyard as a kid, spinning as fast as he could in a circle until he was so dizzy that he would crash to the ground. He would lie gazing at the sky as the whole world moved around him of its own accord, the dizziness and nausea mixing into something enjoyable.

Of course, he was seven then, not seventeen. At seventeen, the feeling of the entire world moving around you when all you wanted it to do is be still was not pleasant at all.

The disconnected floating sensation did not recede when he opened his eyes; if anything, the sudden light assaulting his pupils made everything worse. Before he knew what was happening, he retched.

He weakly rolled onto his back, away from the slowly spreading puddle of sick and closed his eyes against the glare above. When he opened them again, Van was standing in the light, staring down at him. He was saying something, but Prompto couldn't quite make it out. Van rolled his eyes, and reached down, grasping him by the front of his hoodie and hoisting him to his feet.

Van then walked Prompto to the middle of the room and held him, saying something low to Ticceh.

Prompto slowly slid his eyes around the room. What were they doing here? He hadn't remembered coming home. But, there they were, in his basement. …Why were Van Adium and Ticceh Marsh in his basement? He asked them as much, or at least he thought he did, but he couldn't quite make out the words coming from his own lips.

He sucked in a breath as his hands were pulled in front of him. He watched, detached, as Ticceh wrapped rope around his wrists. He tried to pull pack, but the solid mass behind him was holding him up more than he was on his own feet, so the struggling was half hearted and fully futile.

Moments later, his arms were wrenched above him and suddenly only his toes were scraping the floor. It was harder to hold his head up, now, so he just let it fall, his chin resting against his chest.

Apparently that didn't sit well with Van, who gripped a handful of his sweat-and-blood soaked hair and yanked his head back until they were staring eye to crazy eye.

Van smiled that same eerie friendly smile he had yesterday in the driveway and a hard shudder ran through Prompto's body. When he spoke, the larger boy's voice was fire contained. "How about we make us a phone call?"

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV

At a nod from Ignis, Noctis answered the phone, putting it on speaker. "Prompto?"

"No, _your highness._ I'm definitely not your little puppy. But, I'll be happy to let you talk to him." Prompto's audible groan sounded over the line, quickening Noctis' heartbeat.

"…wha…whad're you doin'…?" Prompto's voice was breathy; confused. Hurt.

"Don't you want to talk to the prince, pup?" Van's voice sounded further away now, and a stuttering breath filled the line.

"N..Noct?" Prompto sniffed and tried again. "Noct?"

"Yeah, buddy, it's me. Where are you? Tell me so we can come get you." Noctis and Gladio stared at each other, while Ignis dug his own phone out of his pocket, quickly tapping at the screen.

"N..Noct? H..ey...is uhh, is Iris…ok?"

At the mention of his sister's name, Gladio's wall broke down a little, and the rush of affection and worry he felt for the young photographer splashed across his features. He quickly schooled them back into place, knowing that losing control at this point would do no one any good.

Noctis' lip twitched in slight amusement."Yeah, buddy, Iris is fine. She's home with her dad, now. Tell us where you are so we can come get you and take you home, too."

"Take me…take me home…? W…wait…."

As static suddenly came back over the phone, Ignis snapped to get the prince's attention. He mouthed to him to keep the call going, pointing to his own phone.

Nodding in understanding, Noctis braced himself to be calm when Van's voice came back on the line. "The little pup doesn't seem to be doing so well. I think he may need to go to the vet."

"His name is Prompto." Noctis hissed between his teeth. "Why are you doing this, Adium? What has he ever done to you?"

The laughter on the other end was echoed in the background by the other boy. "Nothing." Van crowed into the receiver, and then Noctis' stomach twisted as his friend's raw pain-filled yelp tore through the line.

"It's you I want to hurt. But, you're always surrounded by your hired muscle. Even at school, there's always someone watching you. So, though I so sorely want to, I can't very well attack the crown prince of Lucis out right! But, luckily for me, you have a favorite pet—" here there was the sound of something blunt hitting flesh, and a small whimper— "that you just let roam around the city unsupervised."

Noctis' chest was heaving and he was coming close to crushing the phone in his grip. "Why? I don't even know you! What could you possibly have against me that would make you want to hurt my friend?" He lurched forward suddenly as Ignis threw the car into reverse, completing a tight three point turn and speeding back the way they'd come.

On the phone, Van was shouting. "You don't know me?! You don't know who I am? Do you not even _remember_ my father?!"

As Ignis swerved into traffic amidst a lot of honking and a few middle fingers, it hit home for Noctis; he knew exactly why Van was doing this. But it was too late for him to say anything as the line went dead. He frantically dialed the number again, but it just rang until the voicemail picked up, and Prompto's cheerful voice asked him to leave a message at the tone.

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Considerable pain brought with it a surprising amount of lucidity. Prompto breathed in slowly and shallowly, trying to contain the agony shooting up from his ribs.

After Van had smashed his phone in a fit of rage, both he and Ticceh had taken a few turns battering Prompto's ribs and back with a broken mop handle they'd found under the stairs. He sagged in his restraints, watching them warily.

"So..what's your endgame, here? You…p-plan on killing me?"

Van curled up one side of his mouth. "Something like that." He strolled forward, circling around the blonde. "Originally, I was simply going to leave you here, and let you die all alone waiting for someone to come home." Van yanked his head back again, putting his mouth close to Prompto's ear. "When would that be, anyway? I mean, does anyone besides the prince even care about what happens to you?"

Prompto didn't answer, and Van yanked harder on his hair, pulling painfully at his neck. "What did you ever do to get in his good graces, anyway?" he hissed into the boy's ear.

Mirth, unbidden and unexpected, rose up in Prompto's chest and bubbled out of his mouth in a strangled kind of chuckle. Van shoved his head forward and whirled around to face the boy again, this time taking his chin painfully in his hand.

Prompto summoned a smile to his face and delighted in the small glimmer of confusion that lit in Van's eyes. "Is that what this is, Van? Heheh, you jealous? Did you want to be best buds with Noct?"

Van's head slowly turned so his fiery gaze could lock onto Ticceh, who had unwisely decided to snort at the comment. The boy quickly sobered and pointed to the stairs. "So, I'm just gonna go and uh….check to make sure…" he petered off and slunk up the stairs, leaving Van and Prompto alone.

Van's eyes narrowed as they bore into Prompto's, whose cerulean orbs were slowly filling with tears at the unyielding grip on his jaw. "I could never be jealous of something like you. You're _nothing_. You're a _pawn_. I'm just using you to get to the prince. The only _value_ you have is in the amount of pain I know it will cause him to see you dead."

Van dropped his hold and took a few steps back, digging in his pocket. He produced a large silver lighter, and popped the top off, thumbing the switch off and on a few times. Flame repeatedly shot out of it like a mini blowtorch. He reached up and tugged down the left sleeve of Prompto's hoodie. Taking a firm grip of his arm—Van's large hand easily wrapping around the smaller boy's bicep—and thumbed the lighter on again. He grinned broadly at the freckled youth. "This is going to hurt. A lot."

The scream that ripped from Prompto's throat almost drowned out the splintering crash of the upstairs door being shattered. Almost.

 **Up next, the moment all have been waiting for. Pissed off chocobros!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Alright, here's the end! Thanks for reading! I have lots of fun ideas for future fics, so keep checking back! There may even be something more light hearted in the works :)**

 **Don't own, don't sue. thanks.**

Gladio braced himself against the doorframe as Ignis zigged and zagged his way through traffic. In the back, Noctis was heaving out huge breaths, trying to keep his temper under control.

"Where is he?" Gladio asked, cringing at a near-miss as Ignis maneuvered through the slower moving cars.

"My contact traced the call to young Prompto's house." He gestured towards the backseat with his head as he continued. "Against my better judgment, I asked him to give us a head start before he contacted the Crownsguard with the same information. He promised nothing, but I'm relatively certain he'll comply."

"Thanks, Iggy." Noctis practically whispered.

Ignis cleared his throat and used his most authoritative tone when he next spoke to the prince. "I am quite concerned for our young friend as well, but that doesn't mean we run in half-cocked, do you understand? You will wait for instruction from either Gladiolus or myself before making any rash moves. Am I clear on this?"

Noctis nodded his agreement from where he sat, staring out at the scenery as it flashed by.

Gladiolus wished he had any of his weapons on him. Unfortunately, though he was technically a member of the Crownsguard, he was not yet permitted to carry weapons throughout the city. And, though Noctis was getting better all the time, he still had not gained full use of his powers, so there was nothing floating about in the ether for him to access, either.

Although, the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to destroy this Van Adium guy with his bare hands. Between the marks on his sister and that heart breakingly lost tone that Prompto used on the phone, he was ready to kill.

As Ignis pulled onto Prompto's street, he slowed down considerably. Gladio was just about to question him, not wanting to waste a second, but then he saw what the adviser saw. Up ahead, a dark vehicle with Crown City plates was just starting to pull away. They all held their breaths as it turned onto the main road and went out of sight.

Ignis pulled to a stop a few doors down in a last minute thought of stealth, and all three quickly exited the vehicle and made their way to the dark house.

"Looks empty, are you sure that—" Noctis' question was answered for him as a faint but distinct wail of pain emitted from beyond the closed door.

Ignis physically restrained Noctis from barging in, but let out a surprised shout just as he realized that it was Gladiolus he should have been worried about. Without warning, the big man rammed into the front door of the house—once, twice—shattering it on its hinges. Wood, glass, and Gladio went flying into the shadows beyond the threshold, Ignis and Noctis right behind him.

A shocked looking boy shot up from the living room couch, where he had apparently been eating potato chips and messing with his phone. He darted to his feet, and leapt over the table, turning and rushing towards the kitchen. He was through the door of the garage and at the side of his car, pulling his keys from his pocket in five seconds flat. But it wasn't fast enough.

Gladio roared incoherently as he snatched the boy up, and slammed him into the hood of his car, holding him there. There was a flash of blue, and suddenly the prince was crouched on the roof of the car, staring down into his face just as menacingly as the larger man was.

"Where is he?" Gladiolus growled into the boy's face, shaking him like he weighed nothing. However, it turned out that he didn't need an answer as the screaming started again. He pulled the boy forward into himself, slamming him back quickly, leaving a dent in the hood of the car. Gladiolus released him to slump unconscious to the floor, turning to Ignis. "Restrain him." He ordered as he and Noctis followed Prompto's desperate cries to the basement door.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV

Prompto was losing his grip on reality again. He'd never known pain like that of the blue flame being applied to the delicate flesh under the crook of his elbow. He shook and jerked and tried desperately to get away, but it was all for nothing. When it was finally removed he hung limply in his restraints until his weight abruptly dragged him to the floor when Van cut away the rope from the beam it had been attached to. He barely registered it as his hoodie and shirt were haphazardly cut away, hissing as the knife Van was using to do it sliced into his flesh a few times.

Van's voice, cold and sinister, floated into his consciousness. "Your prince is here, little pup. Time to bark the alarm."

The clicking of the lighter echoed dully through the basement. Van gripped Prompto by his hair, jerking him back to his feet. He then wrapped his other arm around Prompto's arms and chest, lifting him fully off the floor and bracing the dazed boy against himself.

Prompto bucked and howled again as the torch was applied to the exposed flesh of his stomach, but Van just laughed at his weak struggles, and held him firm as two shadows raced down the stairs.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV

As Noctis reached the bottom of the stairs, he stopped dead in his tracks. Before him, Van Adium, a boy who he'd maybe said three sentences to in his entire life before today, held his best friend captive. There had been a clatter and a flurry of movement as Noctis and Gladio descended the stairs, and now, there was a wicked looking knife held to Prompto's throat.

"Hey, buddy, you ok?" Noctis did his best to ignore Van himself, and instead addressed Prompto.

The blonde regarded him dully for a moment. Then, his voice weak and croaky: "Heya, Noct. Whad're you doing here?"

"Why don't you put the kid down and pick on someone your own size?" Gladio ground out from beside the prince, shifting to stand slightly in front of him and balling his hands into fists.

"Nah, I like it when they're smaller than me." Van's face split into a rictus of joy as he began squeezing Prompto, who spluttered and coughed. "It's so much more…satisfying. Kind of like that girl, earlier. Man, I wish she had stuck around a little longer, I bet I could have made her squirm…"

Gladio took an aggressive step forward, but stopped when Van abruptly changed positions, hoisting Prompto up a little more and resting the point of his dagger a few inches above his navel. At this angle, all he would have to do is drop the smaller boy, and the knife would do the work, stabbing up into his chest cavity.

"Ah ah ah, unless you want me to cut out his heart, I suggest you stay where you are."

Noctis swallowed hard; he committed every bruise and scrape and patch of raw burned skin to memory. He was going to make Van Adium pay.

But first, he had to get him to let Prompto go.

"Why don't we switch? You put him down, and I'll take his place. It's really me you want, anyway." Noctis attempted to step around Gladiolus, but his shield planted a restraining hand on his chest.

Van rumbled a laugh deep in his throat. "That's where you're wrong, prince. I have exactly what I want. I couldn't care less if you live through this. Hell, I don't care if I do. The only thing that I _want_ is to see your face when I take him away from you!" He squeezed Prompto tighter, the knife digging slowly into his flesh.

Next to (and slightly in front of) him, Gladiolus set his shoulders and began sliding into a familiar attack stance. "Oh, if he dies, I can guarantee you that he won't be the only one."

Everyone was silent a moment, until Prompto went slack in Van's arms, and a strange calming rage fell over Noctis. The air crackled around him and Gladiolus stepped aside in surprise.

When he spoke, his voice was steady and dark and made all the hairs on both other men's arms stand on end. "He was a coward, you know."

Van swallowed, brow furrowed in confusion. "Who?"

Noctis' eyes flashed. "Your. Father. Was. A. Coward. He ran. When the Marilith attacked he _ran_. He shirked his duty and left a child to die. A member of the Crownsguard fled, leaving untrained civilians to protect his prince…"

"You lie. MY FATHER WAS A HERO!" Van hurled Prompto's limp body away, forgetting him in his rash need to shut Noctis up.

As he was trained to, Gladiolus stepped in and blocked Van's wild stab, knocking the knife out of his hand. Simultaneously, he shoved Noctis towards the prone figure on the ground.

Though his need to exact immediate revenge was something very much alive in his veins, Noctis reined in the emotion and rushed to his friend's side, gathering him up in his arms and pulling him away from where the two larger boys were fighting.

Though Van was able to get in a few solid punches of his own, Gladiolus quickly gained the upper hand and had him on the ground within a few moments. However, in his rage, he failed to notice that the other boy had landed near his knife. As Gladiolus yanked him up and slammed him into the wall, Van brought the knife back up, brandishing it in a shaky hand and taking a few swipes. Gladiolus jerked back a step, his shirt ripped and dotted with blood where the knife had managed to cut him shallowly a few times.

Gladiolus stalked just out of arms reach, watching Van, who became increasingly nervous. He stabbed out again, trying to drive the other back. This time, however, Gladiolus darted forward and grabbed his arm in both hands, bringing it down into his upwards rushing knee. With a pain filled howl, Van's hand deadened and the knife clattered to the ground. Gladiolus kicked it towards Noctis, who snatched it up and held it in one hand, the other resting protectively on Prompto's chest.

Noctis was not a fan of violence. Sure, video games and movies were one thing, but real life was quite another. But, as Gladio beat the living hell out of the boy who had been doing the same to Prompto, he felt nothing but satisfaction.

Truth be told, he would have happily watched his shield kill the other boy. Was, in fact, doing just that when Cor Leonis clamored down the stairs and put a stop to it.

He really wished Ignis' friend had given them more time.

His attention was drawn back down when there was an audible moan from Prompto, who was mostly in Noctis' lap. He smiled oddly at the Prince and then weakly lifted one arm, gesturing vaguely around the room. "So, uh, welcome to my humble abode. Make yourself at home."

Noctis let out something that started as a laugh and ended in a sob. He leaned forward, resting his forehead against Prompto's shoulder and held his best friend, who tried to awkwardly console him with one hand until the darkness came for him again.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV

Two days later found Ignis driving Gladiolus and Noctis to a private clinic that had been treating Prompto. In his possession he had a writ from King Regis that stated the boy was to be released into his custody should they have any troubles with the staff.

He had requested it due to the phone call he'd gotten early that morning. The voice on the other end had sounded distracted; annoyed. "Yes, I understand my son's gotten into some sort of trouble with the Crownsguard?"

Ignis cleared his throat, confused. "Is this Mrs. Adium?" He asked, not understanding why she would be contacting him directly.

"No, this is Mrs. Argentum. Look, whatever that boy has done now, I'm sure we can work out something. I've told him to stop bothering the prince—"

"Mrs. Argentum, I think there's been some sort of misunderstanding. Your son isn't in trouble with the Crownsguard. He was attacked and has been in the hospital for two days."

"Oh, well that's good. That he's not in trouble that is." Then, almost as an afterthought, "Is he ok?" Though there was a small note of concern, her general flippant attitude had Ignis incensed.

"He almost died." He let that sink in, but when there was nothing further, he continued, "but he's going to be fine. He should be getting out of the hospital today. Will you or your husband be there to pick him up?"

There was a huff and a shuffling of papers. "It would be impossible for either of us to get there today. I can order a cab for him if you will give me the address."

Ignis stiffened, barely keeping his tone in check. "That will be unnecessary. I will pick him up personally."

"Oh, well, thank you I suppose. You can have his medical bills sent to our address. Let him know that I'll put a little extra money in his account to help cover any additional expenses."

Ignis had bid her a curt goodbye and obtained his writ with no issues, King Regis feeling especially in favor of his son's friend at the moment.

The clinic officials gave him no issues, and they quickly had Prompto loaded up in the car and headed back to his house.

He had greeted them all with a big smile and jovial words, but Ignis knew there was something more beyond those bright blue eyes. He was obviously still in pain, and had been issued a cane from the medical facility to aid in his walking around until his knee fully healed.

Though Cor had immediately given the boy an elixir after subduing both Gladio and Van Adium, the curative was meant to be applied as soon as injuries occur, and are unable to heal prior hurts. It had closed up most of his cuts and helped with the bruising, but his knee, burns, and two broken ribs had needed more attention and were still quite sore.

As they drove, they remained mostly quiet, none of the others wanting to speak until Prompto had. It wasn't long before his fidgety nature had him shifting about in the seat to look back at Gladio and Noctis.

"So, I'm not sure if I actually thanked you guys when…you know…you saved my sorry ass." Prompto shot them a pained smile.

Noctis grinned and rolled his eyes, but Gladio looked serious. "I need to thank you for protecting my sister. You did good, kid."

Prompto beamed, but was quick to deflect the compliment. "Oh, I don't know how much I really saved her. I think she did more saving me."

Gladio patted his shoulder, giving him a warm grin of his own. "Whatever you say, Prompto. But still, thanks. Now turn around before Iggy has a coronary."

"Heheh, you got it, big guy!" Prompto did as he was told, groaning a little as the movement caused pain to radiate up from his still sore ribs.

He lolled his head over to gaze at Ignis, his smile fading a little. "So, uh, I heard you talked to my mom? Did she…say anything? I hope she's not too worried about me."

Ignis had to stop himself from frowning. Worried was the last thing that woman had sounded. But, he didn't want to cause unnecessary emotional pain on top of all the boy had experienced in the last few days. "I assured her all was well and that you were being taken care of."

Prompto smiled his thanks, but Ignis had the feeling the boy knew he was leaving something out.

When they pulled into the driveway, Ignis cast a glance towards the front door. The Crownsguard had done well, working quickly to complete the needed repairs on the door and within the house. Cor had personally assured him that the few bloodstains and scent of burnt flesh had been scrubbed from the basement.

Prompto got out of the car with the help of Gladio, and reached in to pull his cane out as well, stabilizing himself before heading towards the door, waiving to his friends. "Thanks guys! I'll uh, I'll see you next time."

Noctis' voice stopped him cold. "After all this, you're _still_ not going to invite us in?"

Prompto whirled, nearly wrenching his bad knee in the process. "What?! No, it's not like that. I mean, I just..I was gonna….you know…"

All three of the others burst out laughing at their flustered friend. Ignis quickly walked to the trunk and popped it open, motioning for Gladiolus to join him.

Noctis strolled forward and put his hand on Prompto's shoulder. "Did you really think we were going to just let you be here all by yourself after everything that's happened? I don't think so."

Gladiolus laughed behind him. "I doubt the prince here is going to let you out of his sight for some time."

"Frankly," Ignis stated as he pulled a grocery bag from the trunk and handed it over to Gladiolus, "I don't think any of us are comfortable letting you out of our sight for too long at this point. Besides, I'm sure you could use a good home cooked meal."

Prompto reddened with embarrassed pleasure at his friend's remarks. "You guys really don't have to go through the trouble—"

"No trouble at all, Prompto. We'll hear nothing further on the subject. Now, how about opening the door so that we can have that "boy's night in" we were supposed to have on Friday?"

Prompto smiled uncertainly at his three friends. "Yeah, I…I think I'd like that."

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV

Prompto was surprised to find Noctis in his room when he exited the shower. His friend had helped him up the stairs, sure, but he'd expected him to go back to hang with the others while he got himself cleaned up and changed.

The raven haired boy was facing away from him, hands stuffed into his pockets, studying the collection of pictures that were pinned to the wall. They mostly consisted of the guys or random places throughout the city, but some were of strangers he'd caught in small moments of their daily lives; a woman carrying her shopping bag, two kids with their faces plastered against the window of a local candy store (he'd given them a handful of gil after he snapped the picture and watched as they tore through the store, spending up every last bit); an old man on a park bench.

Noctis smiled at him from over his shoulder, and Prompto unconsciously pulled his towel up higher, to hide his freshly bandaged stomach. To his credit, Noctis made no reaction at any of the still visible marks from his ordeal. "These are really good."

"Of course! This is me, we're talking about. I was born to take awesome shots like these!" Prompto gave him a genuine grin and swaggered as much as his cane and towel holding would allow.

Noctis turned fully to him, then. "You should take more selfies. Or start setting a timer so you can be in the group shots, too."

Prompto's skin tingled as his face flushed. "Um, I mean, I'm more of a behind the camera kind of guy, you know. But I, I'll take it under advisement."

Noctis chuckled as he strolled over to the closet, pulling out a white tee shirt and gray sweat pants for Prompto and tossing them on the bed. "Alright, well get dressed and come down. Holler if you need help, ok?"

Prompto managed to get himself dressed with few issues and hurried downstairs, using the banister heavily as he hopped on one foot the whole way down; the laughter and tantalizing smell of peppery daggerquil rice that wafted up to his room quickening his efforts.

He waived to Gladiolus and Noctis, who seemed to be trying to get Noctis' game system to work on the tv, and swung around into the kitchen to make sure Ignis didn't need any help.

"Find everything ok, Iggy?" He asked as he headed to the refrigerator to get himself a bottle of water.

"Yes, thank you, Prompto." Ignis smiled to him as he stirred the rice.

"No, thank you, Iggy. I can't remember the last time I…well…thanks Iggy." He finished lamely, heading back into the living room.

"May I ask you a personal question, Prompto?" Ignis asked, turning away from the stove.

Prompto paused, turning back to his friend. "Uh, yeah, sure. I'm an open book."

Ignis raised one eyebrow at that, but elected to not comment. "When was the last time either of your parents was home at the same time as you?"

Prompto coughed uncomfortably, shifting his gaze to the floor. "That's very blunt of you," he said, his voice strained.

Ignis pushed his glasses back up on his nose and frowned at his young friend. "You know I'm not one for beating around the bush. Answer the question."

"I, uh….I mean, they love me, you know? They just work a lot. They both have jobs that require a lot of hours…a lot of travel. And, um, that's hard on a marriage, you know? And then having a kid, too…much less one they didn't maybe actually ask for…"

"…Prompto." Ignis' steady voice cut through the jumbled thoughts that were parading around his head.

"Right. Rambling. Sorry. Uhm, well I think it's been a couple of weeks. Like, maybe three? Dad should be home in a few days, though. And he'll be around for about a week, and I think Mom will probably come home that weekend. But, her schedule is kind of weird, so when she is in town we still don't see each other much, but it's ok…"

Ignis reached out and laid his strong hand on the younger teen's shoulder, effectively stopping the second bout of rambling.

"Look, this is none of my business, and I don't mean to intrude or imply anything negative about your parents. Each person's family life is his own, and if you're fine with how everything is, then I certainly won't say anything. It's not like any one of us has what one would call a 'normal' life. But, what I do want to say is that from this day forward, there will always be a plate for you at our dinner table. You never have to ask; it will always be there."

Tears gathered swiftly in Prompto's eyes, and he threw himself forward into Ignis, embracing him. The taller man returned the hug, letting his chin rest on top of the boy's blonde head for a moment before pulling away.

"Off with you, or dinner may get burned."

Prompto laughed softly and went to the living room, where Noctis helped him to get situated on the couch while Gladiolus finally got the media player working properly.

"What're we playing?" he winced a little as the bigger man plopped down on the other end of the couch, and readjusted himself as Noctis wedged himself between the two.

"What else?" Noctis asked, bumping his shoulder into the smaller boy gently.

"Woohoo, alright! Kings Knight all night!"

Gladiolus caught Ignis' eye from across the room and they smiled at each other, content in the younger boys' exuberance.

XVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXVXV

EPILOG

Gladiolus tried to keep his grumbling to a minimum. He and Ignis had both gotten quite the dressing down about running into danger without first contacting the rest of the Crownsguard. But, luckily, they were both let off with a slap on the wrist.

Now, the big man was sitting in Cor's office, shifting uncomfortably as the marshal started up a tape for them to watch, telling him that there was something he needed to see. It took a few moments for him to realize that it was security video from the art gallery where they had found Iris's phone and Prompto's camera.

"I don't know if I really want to watch this." He grumbled, waiving his hand at the screen. On the display, he could see Prompto leading his sister by the hand up to the stairwell.

"Just keep watching." Cor stated gruffly.

A brilliant flash turned the screen white for a moment, and as it faded, he could make out three shadows rushing up to Prompto, who was haphazardly kneeling on the pavement. He cringed and his blood began to boil as he watched them kick his friend down and begin to beat him unmercifully.

"…Cor…" Gladiolus cast his friend and mentor a sidelong glance, not wanting to see this.

"Keep watching."

Huffing, Gladiolus turned his attention back to the screen. He watched, unconsciously leaning forward as the fight began to slowly turn in the favor of the two smaller teens.

He whistled, impressed, as Prompto slung his rocks at the attackers, and he choked out a startled laugh when the freckled boy used his camera to blind one of them. "Ha, the little shit actually did it."

Cor shut the tape off as the two teens were getting pulled out of range of the camera.

They were silent a few moments, then Cor turned to Gladiolus, a grim look on his face. "The boy is obviously reckless. But, he has good instincts. Impeccable aim. I want you to consider taking him under your wing and preparing him to join the Crownsguard."

Gladiolus shook his head. "Who, Prompto? I don't think so…he's so…so…"

"Loyal? Brave?" Cor supplied for him, and Gladiolus' frown deepened.

"I was going to go with 'over enthusiastic and somewhat annoying', but I see where you're going with this. I'll consider mentioning it to him."

Cor nodded briefly. "See that you do."

They said their goodbyes and parted ways, Gladiolus heading out to drive back to Noctis' where the other three were waiting for him to have dinner. Truth be told, he was already considering at least teaching the boy how to fight so that he could better take care of himself and others in the future, but he wasn't sure if Prompto was up to actually being a member of the Crownsguard. The boy was soft, sweet, and kind. Gladiolus was loath to change any of these aspects by hardening him through rigorous training.

But, then again….


End file.
